It's Friday, Frr Frr Frr Friday!
This week has kicked my butt. The kids had their first day of school on Tuesday. I've run about a billion miles (ok, only 29 in 4 days, but still...) I've been to a million stores looking for supplies (the high school and middle school here give us supply lists in each class on the first day, oy.) And I'm getting nowhere near enough sleep. Thank goodness I have nowhere I need to be on Saturday morning.
Of course, seeing as how it's Friday, it's time for Friday Five 2.0 and the topic is "Post-Race Meals/Snacks". Well, is it any surprise that my favorite post- race meal involves beer? Beer Geek and I always stop at the same restaurant post MCM, both because it's on the way home and because they have a … [Read more...]

Here we are, about to start our last week of summer vacation. Or, my kids are at least. I've been crazy busy trying to get back on track with my job, our house, my marathon training, and this blog. All of them seemed to take a backseat to traveling with the family this summer, but now it's time to pay the piper.
My training this week went better than previous weeks, at least from a hitting my paces standpoint. I did shorten a couple of run and miss one entirely, but I had a successful pace run on Wednesday where I actually had a couple of sub-10 miles.
My 10 miler on Friday also went way better than the 16 miles I did in feels like 105*.
Then I celebrated my birthday. Oops. OK, it was a pretty awesome birthday, but I paid … [Read more...]

Today's topic for Friday Five is "summer treats". If you've been reading my blog for more than five minutes, you know that's going to lead me directly to beer. Honestly, an ice cold beer after a hot run is one of the most refreshing treats you can find. Here are five styles to go for this summer - they are all refreshing and are often what one would call a session beer AKA a lower alcohol beer that allows you to drink more than one. Do not, however, confuse these beers with light beers. They have way more flavor (and calories) than that.
Wheat beers - Last year, wheat beers became my beer of choice when it's hot out. There are a variety of styles within this category, but they all have a significant percentage of wheat versus … [Read more...]

You all know I love craft beer about as much as I love running. OK, maybe even more than I love running. When I get the chance to combine the two, I'm a happy camper. And lately the opportunities to run and drink beer in t he DC area are growing and growing. The number of breweries and brewpubs has exploded in recent years. Conveniently, many of them are near local running trails and many of them are hosting run clubs, which is basically code for run and drink beer. Since today's Friday Five 2.0 topic with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness is beverages, I'm going to give you five reasons to run for beer (aka run with a beer related run club).
Running with friends is always better. OK, maybe a beer run won't be your best … [Read more...]

This week has pretty much chewed me up and spit me out. I'm so glad to have actually survived until Friday, mostly with my sanity intact. It was one of those weeks where we were all going in too many different directions. It was one of those weeks where my runs did not follow my plan at all. I was running purely for stress relief or, as I said on Facebook, running was my version of "put your oxygen mask on first before helping others." On the bright side, we've survived the week and Beer Geek and I have a race tomorrow. If you are local, you should join us.
Guinness after the race - I'm not going to lie - it's a great race but the absolute highpoint of running it is a Guinness at 10am.
Wicked fast downhill start - Nevermind that … [Read more...]

In a very few months, I'll be celebrating my 9th year of writing this blog. NINE YEARS! What?? Also in 2017, I will run my 10,000th *recorded* mile. (Yeah, I know I took some months off here and there where I didn't record my runs.) It's hard to believe that when I started, I'd never run a race longer than a 10 miler. Wrap your heads around that. Another big milestone in 2017? ZOOMA Annapolis (where I ran my very first half) will be celebrating 10 years. As a 2017 ambassador, I will be there, probably running my 70th half marathon. But enough about upcoming things, today's Tuesdays on the Run topic is "Wrapping up your year", so I'm going to look back at my goals from 2016 and see how I fared.
Running
Finish 7 half marathons in 7 … [Read more...]

Today on Tuesdays on the Run, we are talking about our bucket list of races. For me, I've never been tempted by the big marathons, like Boston or NYC. I think it's because I live in a big city myself, so big races don't excite me. There are lots of races out there that I'd love to run, but here's one that has been on my radar for a while and I WILL get to someday: the Bend beer relay AKA the Bend Beer Chase.
When someone says “Relay Race” most of us think of races like Ragnar or Hood to Coast or American Odyssey where you have more than one van and run through the night. These are great races and a lot of fun, but there’s another option that’s been gaining in popularity: the one day relay. The one day relay is usually closer to 70 … [Read more...]

It's a really long ways from Washington DC to Grand Rapids, Michigan, especially when you are the one riding in the back seat. Just 'sayin...
We just got back from a lovely week in Michigan. Other than the long drive and the fact that heat decided to follow us, it was an amazing trip. We left crazy early on the Friday before July 4th. Trust me, you do not want to be trying to get out of DC any later than you have to on a holiday weekend in the summer, so we hit the road at 5:30am. This meant we made it to Cleveland and the Great Lakes Brewing Company in time for lunch. Priorities, people.
After lunch (and some amazing beer), we headed to the Cleveland Zoo. It was a lovely zoo and we managed to spend more than 3 hours walking … [Read more...]

At this point, I've completed 5 of 7 half marathons. We've had an amazing trip so far. Maine was an ok race, New Hampshire was good, Vermont was awesome, Massachusetts kicked my butt, and Rhode Island went well. We've driven all over the area in the Ford Mustang the rental agency gave us instead of a compact LOL. I've visited a tri-point (where three state borders come together), the Rhode Island high point, and all the counties in Vermont and New Hampshire that Beer Geek needed to visit. We are having a wonderful time celebrating 21 years of marriage doing the things that make us both happy. (OK, I'm tolerating the geeky stuff LOL) Since it's Friday Five, here are five things I'm loving about this trip...
Beer Geek running with me - … [Read more...]

It's Friday! Fr-Fr-Fr-Friday! And Friday the 13th to boot! Yes, Friday the 13th is my lucky day, so I'm looking forward to an awesome day. Of course, the fact that I leave on vacation with Beer Geek while my parents man the fort might have something to do with how awesome I feel. Either that or the lack of sleep.
So here are some fun, random things for this Friday.
It's our 21st anniversary today! Finally, our marriage is legal to have a beer. Still, I can't believe that we've been married 21 years. I'm pretty sure I'm only 25. (Do not remind me of the wrinkles and the grey streaks in my hair thankyouverymuch.) I was going to give you some thoughts on marriage, but I fell asleep. That's what 21 years of marriage does for you.
I … [Read more...]

I've run a lot of races. I don't actually know how many, but when I've done 51 half marathons and 5 marathons and a ton of other distances including two relays and three 17.75s, one could assume that I'm likely reaching the 100 race mark (OK, I admit, I actually went to Athlinks after this and checked and I've done at least 108), which is kind of crazy when you think about the fact that my very first race was in 2007!
With that many races comes a LOT of swag. Most of the time, it takes the form of a t-shirt (and a medal if it's a longer race). But every once in a while, the race director departs from the standard and gives out something useful.
Here are some of my favorites:
Glasses - I've gotten a few glasses (although I … [Read more...]

Welcome to the April edition of “Cooking with Beer”! Once again, I am featuring a beer that DuClaw Brewing sent me. This month DuClaw sent me one of their spring beers, Funk.
DuClaw Funk is a blueberry citrus wheat ale. It's a traditional American wheat ale with Meyer lemon and blueberries added. With a light refreshing taste and an ABV of only 5%, this is the perfect summer session beer. Take it with you on a summer picnic, enjoy it by the fire pit on a summer night, or simply grab one after a hot afternoon mowing the lawn. Whatever the summer occasion, this beer makes a great accompaniment.
As far as recipes go, we decide to do something a little funky (pun intended) this time. A friend suggested we make pancakes and we ran with … [Read more...]

Who is MCM Mama?
A slightly obnoxious mom and wife who loves good beer and running, who struggles a bit with depression especially in the winter and when running isn’t allowed, who’d rather go on a fun vacation than upgrade the kitchen or add a master bath.

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A slightly obnoxious mom and wife who loves good beer and running, who struggles a bit with depression especially in the winter and when running isn’t allowed, who’d rather go on a fun vacation than upgrade the kitchen or add a master bath. Read More…

Here we are, a crazy number of days into Virginia’s Stay at Home order. Today, the Northern Virginia area began Phase 1, which means more things will be open at reduced capacity and with masks required in establishments. To be honest, it’s not really going to change my behavior (we are super careful), including that […]